Automatic device for discharging liquid-tanks.



No. 703,090. Patented June 24, |902.

w. s. SHIELDS.

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Patented June 24, 1902; W. S. SHIELDS.

Flint! Hill l: A? W 9 7 J a? WEEZ iiimiiiiilliil 'ummumn lllHllll UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

WILLIAM S. SHIELDS, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

AUTOMATIC DEVICE FOR DISCHARGING LIQUID-TANKS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 703,090, dated June 24, 1902.

Application filed October 28,1901. Serial No. 80,204.. No model.)

To aZZ whom, it may concern.-

Beit known that I, WILLIAM S. SHIELDS, of Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Automatic Devices for Discharging Liquid-Tanks; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description thereof, reference beinghad to the accompanying drawings, and to the letters of reference marked thereon, which form apart of this specification.

This invention relates to an apparatus for automatically discharging the contents of a primary liquid tank or receptacle into a plurality of secondary tanks or receptacles in a predetermined recurrent or rotative order. The apparatus may be employed wherever it is desirable to automatically discharge the contents of a primary receptacle into a number of secondary receptacles, and one of the uses to which my apparatus may be conveniently adapted and for which it has been designed is the treatment of sewage by what is known as the septic system to purify and render harmless the efliuent resulting from such treatment, said apparatus being adapted to be located between the septic tank or tanks or such system and the contact-bedsand to receive the efiluent from the septictank and periodically discharge it upon the several contact-beds of the system in a predetermined rotative order.

An apparatus embodying the improvements constituting my invention embraces a primary tank or receptacle to which liquid is supplied in any suitable manner, a plurality of deep-seal siphons located therein, which operate to successively discharge the contents thereof into a plurality of secondary tanks or receptacles, there being one siphon provided for each secondary tank or receptacle and means for controlling the action of said siphons,whereby they are brought into operation in recurrent or rotative order to empty the contents of the primary tank or receptacle successively into the several secondary tanks or receptacles. For the purpose of controlling the operation of the several siphons in a manner to prevent more than a predetermined number of siphons operating at one time, and to thereby prevent the contents of the primary tank or receptacle being discharged into all of the secondary tanks or receptacles alike, a controlling mechanism is provided and operated by the rise and fall of the liquid in the primary tank or receptacle, and the operation of which is so timed that the controlling means are brought into action to operate one or more of the siphons before the liquid-head in said primary tank or receptacle is sufficient to overcome the seals in the traps connected with the dischargelimbs of the siphons, thereby insuring that the liquid shall be discharged from the primary tank or receptacle through a given siphon or siphons in each operation of the apparatus.

In the drawings I have shown a practical embodiment of my invention, in which- Figure 1 is a plan sectional view, taken on line 1 1 of Fig. 2, showing a primary tank or receptacle and surrounding secondary tanks or receptacles and the siphons and controlling devices for said siphons. Fig. 2 is a vertical section of the primary tank or receptacle with parts of the interior mechanism broken away. Fig. 3 is an enlarged detail section of two float-chambers and a track-section connecting the same and which constitute parts of the siphon-controlling mechanism.

As shown in said drawings, A designates the primary tank or receptacle, and B B fragments of a plurality of secondary tanks or receptacles surrounding said primary tank or receptacle.

0 O designate as a whole a plurality of deepseal siphons symmetrically disposed in the primary tank or receptacle and discharging into the secondary tanks or receptacles, there being four siphons shown-one for each secondary tank or receptacle. The shorter leg of each siphon consists of a bell-shaped dome 0, supported over the upper open end of the longer leg 0 and said longer leg of each siphon communicates with a trap 0 in which is formed the usual liquid seal.

D D designate air pipes extending upwardly'from the domes O and communicating with the interiors of the siphons, and said pipes are provided with valves (1 d of any preferred type.

E E designate a plurality of floats, of which there is one for each siphon, and said floats are contained and rise and fall within vertical float-chambers F F, which are grouped centrally in the tank or receptacle A. Said float-chambers are supported on transverse timbers F, extending across the tank or receptacle in the manner shown in Fig. 2. Said floats consist, as shown, of hollow sheet-metal bodies and are provided with upright reduced extensions, each consisting of four rods E, which are attached at theirlower ends to the float and support at their upper ends an inclined plate or head E, which constitutes the extreme top of the float. The upper ends E of said float-chambers, through which the upper ends of the floats extend, are reduced in diameter to correspond with the size of the float extensions, and said upper ends of the float-chambers are connected by means of short inclined trough-like track-sections G, the walls of said chambers being provided in alinement with the track-sections with openings through which the track-sections communicate with said chambers. Each of said track-sections is inclined from one of said float-chambers to the other, so that the discharge end of the track-section connected with each chamber is located below the receiving end of the next succeeding track-section communicating with said chamber. The track-sections and upper ends of the chambers taken together form a race or track, which is traversed by a traveling weight H, hereinafter to be described, which latter successively actuates the valves d of the airpipes D through mechanism hereinafter to be described, thereby successively bringing the siphons into operation. Said traveling weight in its passage from one track-section to the other passes transversely through one of the chambers, said weight passing into said chamber upon the upper end of the float therein at atime when said float is depressed and when the tank or receptacle A is empty. When said chamber is filled, therefore, and the float is elevated, the weight is lifted to the level of the receiving end of the next adjacent track-section and is delivered to and through said track-section to the next floatchamber in advance. The part of each valve mechanism acted upon by the weight is located in one of the track-sections between two adjacent float-chambers, and, as herein shown, such mechanism is made as follows: Projecting into each of said track-sections is a trip-lever I, which lever is operatively connected with the valve cl of one of the air-pipes D. Each of said levers I is pivoted between its ends to the bottom wall of its associated track-section, and the end of said levers which extends into the track-section is made wide or flat, as indicated in Fig. 1, for engagement with the traveling weight H. The part of said track-section below said trip-lever is offset below the other parts thereof, and the pivot of said lever is connected with the vertical or offset part of the bottom wall, as shown in Fig. 3, to permit the necessary oscillation of the lever for actuating the valve. The opposite end of said lever is pivoted to a link I, which latter is pivoted to one end of a crank-arm d, rigid with the stem of the associated valve d. The parts described are so arranged that when the end of the trip-lever extending into the track-section is depressed the valve will be opened, and said valve is closed when the traveling weight passes off the trip-lever by means of a counterweight I attached to the lower end of the link I. Obviously a spring applied to the said valveoperating mechanism will act to close the valve in the same manner as said weight.

The operation of the apparatus is as follows: Before the tank or receptacle A is filled all of the floats are in their lowermost positions, as indicated in Fig. 2, the valves (1 of the pipes D are closed, and the free ends of the trip-levers I project obliquely upwardly into the track-sections Gin the path of the traveling Weights. When the liquid is supplied to the tank or receptacle A, the rising of the liquid-level therein causes all the floats E to rise, and one of the floats carries upwardly with it the traveling weight H, which is resting on the upper end of the extension of said float. The length of the float is so proportioned that when a predetermined depth of liquid has been reached in the tank or receptacle and prior to the time when the liquid-head therein is sufficient to start the siphons into operation the traveling weight is raised by the float on which it rests above the level of the receiving end of the next adjacent track-section G, and the inclination of the upper end or head of said float acts to direct said weight into and through said tracksection toward the next float-chamber in ad- Vance. In the passage of said weight through said track-section it is brought into contact with and operates the trip-lever I of one of the valve mechanisms and opens one of said valves. This operation in the form of apparatus here shown releases the air from the siphons with which the said valve cl is associated, starts said siphon into operation, and discharges the primary tank or receptacle theret-hrough into one of the secondary tanks or receptacles. IVhen the traveling weight H is directed into the track-section in the manner described, said weight passes to the lower end of the said track-section, as shown in Fig. 3; but by reason of the fact that the extension of the next adjacent float is above the level of the discharge end of said tracksection said weight is confined therein until the float is depressed, which occurs during the discharge of the liquid from the primary tank or receptacle. WVhen the floats are lowered by the lowering of the liquid-level in said tank or receptacle, the said weight drops upon the adjacent float and is supported on said float until said float again arises by the refilling of the tank or receptacle, said weight being confined at this time on said float by the walls of the chamber. When the tank is IIO again filled, all of the floats rise as before, and the traveling weight is again raised by the float supporting the same until it reaches the level of the receiving end of the next adjacent track section, whereupon it is discharged into and through said track-section and trips the valve mechanism of another siphon, thereby starting said siphon into operation and discharging the liquid contents of the primary tank or receptacle therethrough into another one of the secondary tanks or receptacles. The traveling weight in this manner passes from one float-chamber to the other and is by each of the floats successively raised and directed to the floatchamber next in advance, and in its passage from one of said float-chambers to the other successively and in recurrent order actuates the valves of said siphons.

The invention is not limited to any particular number of siphons associated in one battery, and where a large number of siphons are employed more than one weight may be used at the same time to operate two or more siphons simultaneously. Moreover, a single weight may be made to operate more than one siphon by connecting the air-pipes of. two or more siphons with one valve, whereby when said valve is opened all of the siphons connected with said valve are set in operation. Such connected siphons may be located in one tank or in difierent tanks and at different elevations. Moreover, it will be obvious that the different float-chambers and floats need not necessarily be located in the primary tank or receptacle, but may be located in a tank or receptacle communicating therewith.

I claim as my invention 1. An apparatus for the purpose set forth comprising a liquid tank or receptacle, a plurality of discharge devices for emptying the same, and means for successively operating said discharge devices comprising a float mechanism, and a traveling weight controlled by said float mechanism.

2. An apparatus for the purpose set forth comprising a liquid tank or receptacle, a plurality of discharge devices for successively emptying said tank, a plurality of floats one associated with each discharge device, and means operated by the rise and fall of said floats for successively operating the discharge movement of which is controlled by said floats.

4. The combination with a liquid tank or receptacle, of a plurality of siphons for discharging the contents of the same, an air-pipe connected with each siphon, valves in said pipes, and a traveling weight adapted to severally actuate said valves in a predetermined rotative order for successively starting the siphons into operation and thereby emptying said tank or receptacle.

5. An apparatus for the purpose set forth comprising a liquid tank or receptacle, a plurality of siphons for discharging the contents of the tank, mechanism for starting said siphons into operation, and an actuating-weight which travels from one siphon-actuating mechanism to the other.

6. The combination with a liquid tank or receptacle, of a plurality'of siphons for discharging the contents of the same, a corre-- sponding number of float-chambers, floats in said chambers which rise and fall with the rise and fall of the liquid in the receptacle, inclined troughs or track-sections connecting said chambers, a travelingv weight which passes by gravity through said troughs or track-sections from one float-chamber to the other, said weight being lifted by said floats to the receiving ends of the several troughs or track-sections,an air-pipe connected with each siphon, a valve in each pipe, and a trip-lever projecting into the trough in the path of said moving weight and operatively connected with the valve.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my invention I afflx my signature, in presence of two witnesses, this 25th day of October,

WILLIAM S. SHIELDS. Witnesses:

O. CLARENCE POOLE, WILLIAM L. HALL. 

